In the Open and in the Shadows

Qian Renxue pressed her sword tip against the edge of the cannon's muzzle, sending Angel's Light along its iron wall. The gunner frantically worked the firing mechanism. Tang San kicked open the breech cover from the side of the carriage, and the instant a tongue of flame appeared, Qian Renxue smothered it.

When the gunner saw he couldn't fire it, he drew a Short Blade and stabbed at Tang San's back. Xiao Wu teleported onto the carriage from the other side and kicked him away from the cannon. Neither pursued him. They first separated the powder charge inside. Ning Rongrong was still maintaining her enhancement from a distance. When she saw the muzzle scorch the edge of Qian Renxue's wing, she immediately shifted her light to steady Qian Renxue's speed.

The shell jolted inside the barrel but did not explode. Everyone had barely begun to breathe easier when the gun carriage's underframe suddenly broke apart. The remaining powder charges rolled downhill, straight toward the negotiation table. Two record keepers were running with the wounded soldiers' register, but they were too slow. Bibi Dong turned to protect them, only to find Yuan Yu had already rushed over from the bridge.

He opened the Void-Aspect Boundary Gate twice in succession within sight. The first opening took him to the foot of the slope; the second brought him beside the table, where he shoved the record keepers onto Gu Rong's bone dragon. The strain of opening the gates twice made the old wound in his palm split open as well. He did not open a third. Instead, he used the Earth Origin Boundary-Sealing Seal to pin the rolling wheel in place.

One record keeper clutched the draft treaty while gripping the bone dragon's armored back with the other hand. Seeing Yuan Yu still